Thursday, May 20, 2010

Discover Romania

Romania has a most varied relief that includes the Carpathians Mountains as well as the Danube Delta and the Black Sea. The Carpathians Mountains are in the center of the country, bordered on both sides by hills and plateaus and finally the great plains of the outer rim. Forests cover over a quarter of the country and the fauna is one of the richest in Europe including wolves, bears, deer, lynx and chamois. The mighty Danube forms the southern boundary of the country terminating in the Delta on the Black Sea a heaven for countless native and migratory birds.

The territory of Romania has been inhabited since the Paleolithic period. Present-day Romania was first inhabited by the Dacians, fierce warriors subdued by the Romans under Traian in two extremely difficult campaigns at the beginning of the 2nd century AD. The relatively brief Roman occupation, 165 years, nevertheless left us a lasting legacy the Latin language which survived the many subsequent invasions of migratory peoples. Over the years a Romanian identity progressively developed, during the 13th and 14th centuries the feudal states of Walachia and Moldavia were established. Centuries of struggles against the Turks ensued in these states. Meanwhile Transylvania was successively occupied by the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Finally Moldavia and Walachia were united in 1859, independence was achieved in 1877 and union with Transylvania in 1918. Communist rule established after the World War II, lasted 45 years, and it was ended by the December revolution of 1989.

Romanian folklore is best preserved in the world and examples can be found all over the country: in Maramures (wooden architecture, costumes, ceramics), Bucovina (woven materials, Easter painted eggs, costumes, traditions, Horezu (pottery, wood carving), the Apuseni Mountains (popular costumes, wood carving, folk celebrations, wooden architecture), Marginimea Sibiului (glass painted icons, popular costumes).

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